FALL 2025 McNair Scholars Howling Highlights Welcome! Introductions and Spotlights UCLA McNair Conference 2025-2026 Faculty Mentors and Cohort 2025 NSU Forum Events Welcome to the TRIO McNair Scholars Program Welcome to the second edition of the Northern State University McNair Scholars Program Newsletter! We are excited to share the continued progress and achievements of our scholars as we work together to promote academic excellence and support their success in graduate school. The McNair Scholars Program is a federally funded initiative named in honor of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, a physicist and astronaut who tragically lost his life in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Established in 1989, the program was created to honor his legacy by empowering first-generation and low-income college students to pursue doctoral studies. We are proud that the TRIO McNair Scholars Program at Northern State University is the first and only McNair program in South Dakota. Our mission is to equip students with the tools, experiences, and support needed to successfully prepare for and succeed in graduate education, especially at the PhD level. During the 2024–2025 academic year, we proudly celebrated the graduation of ten outstanding scholars. These students exemplified determination, academic achievement, and a deep commitment to personal and professional growth. Among them, three have already begun the next steps in their graduate school journeys: Jessica Bertsch at the University of Montana, BriAnna Linn at Northern State University, and Benjamin Wirth, also at Northern State University. We extend our sincere appreciation to Northern State University and the greater Aberdeen community for their continued support of our scholars and the McNair mission. We are especially grateful to our dedicated NSU faculty mentors, whose guidance, encouragement, and belief in our students have been instrumental to their success. Your mentorship remains at the heart of what makes this program impactful and transformative. Sincerely, The McNair Staff Table of Contents MCNAIR SCHOLARS AT UCLA, 2025 Dr. Ronald E. McNair, physicist and the second African American astronaut in space
Welcome our new McNair Research Coordinator! Shelby Serrano joins us in the TRIO McNair Scholars Program as the McNair Research Coordinator. Shelby is an NSU Alum graduating in 2017 with her Bachelor of Music Education. After graduating, Shelby moved to the Black Hills and taught elementary music for one year at Piedmont Valley Elementary School. She then moved to Rapid City and taught middle school choir and general music at South Middle School. Shelby is also a piano teacher. While living in Rapid City, Shelby met her husband, Joseph Serrano, who was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Shelby and Joseph were married in 2021 and have gone through two deployments and one move together. Shortly after that, they moved to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. While in Virginia, Shelby was a substitute teacher for surrounding districts. In August 2022, Shelby and Joseph welcomed their daughter, Pepper, to their family. Shelby is excited to be back home in Aberdeen and working at her alma mater, NSU. Program Director Dr. Chiara Wang Dr. Wang holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Kansas and brings over two decades of experience in K–16 education. A proud Jayhawk, she is a licensed K–12 educator in both Chinese and English as a New Language, with a longstanding commitment to multilingual pedagogy and student-centered learning. A native of Taipei, Dr. Wang has done extensive research on delimitation across languages and Mandarin tones, and she is passionate about applying her linguistics knowledge to language pedagogy. Her personal connection to Northern State University runs deep—her husband is an NSU alumnus, and her late fatherin-law, a devoted mathematician, was a graduate of Northern State Teachers College and taught in Aberdeen for more than thirty years. Beyond her professional life, Dr. Wang enjoys walking her German Shepherd with her husband, participating in her faith community, singing, playing music, writing, exploring culinary traditions, and preparing for future scholarly and creative endeavors.
McNair Scholar Spotlight: Christian Wells Christian Wells, a rising junior McNair Scholar and biochemistry major, was selected for a prestigious summer internship at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He participated in the Pre-MSTP Cancer Research, Education, and Training Experience (CREATE) Program at the Twin Cities campus, where he conducted research with 59 students from all over the country under the mentorship of Dr. David Potter, M.D., Ph.D., an MIT-trained physician-scientist and a leading member of the Breast Cancer Program at the Masonic Cancer Center. In addition to being fully committed to this 10week summer program and taking 3 NSU summer classes, Wells shadowed physicians during evening hours at the university clinic, gaining valuable clinical exposure alongside his laboratory training. Congratulations, Christian! McNair Scholar Faculty Mentor Spotlight: Lucas Wiscons Dr. Lucas Wiscons joined Northern State University in 2024 as an assistant professor. He taught previously at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on police-civilian interaction, criminal case processing, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the use of science and technology in the criminal justice system. Dr. Wiscons has taught classes in sociology, criminal justice, social psychology, and research methods. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Wiscons managed a law firm in San Diego, California that specializes in matters involving criminal and immigration law as well as appellate litigation. Dr. Wiscons particularly enjoys involving students in his research and mentoring undergraduates, especially McNair scholars, interested in pursuing independent study, honors projects, and graduate school.
Snow, Lilliana, Paige, Alex, Matt, Dr. Wang, Tahlia, and Shelby Paige, Snow, Dr. Wang, Tahlia, and Shelby UCLA McNair Conference 2025 In July 2025, Chit Snow, Liliana Angulo, Piage Bishop, Alex Newsam, Matt Scepaniak, McNair Director Dr. Chiara Wang, and Research Coordinator Shelby Serrano represented NSU at the UCLA McNair Scholar Conference. During the event, the scholars had the chance to explore both the UCLA and USC campuses. These tours provided valuable insights into campus life and the resources available to students, especially graduate assistantships and other funding options. While touring UCLA, the scholars discovered historical events associated with the campus and learned that it was briefly the filming location for How I Met Your Mother. Additionally, they engaged with representatives from over 50 graduate institutions to gather information about various programs and summer research and internship opportunities. In summary, our time at UCLA was thoroughly enjoyable! The Scholars participated in numerous breakout and poster sessions, featuring presentations from McNair Scholars from many universities. We thank the UCLA McNair Program staff and scholars for hosting the conference during our intense period of intellectual overload and meaningful connections with professors and scholars from across the country. Our scholars on the UCLA tour UCLA Fighting Bruins! Liliana, Paige, Snow, Tahlia, Matt, and Alex in front of the USC Trojan
2025-2026 Faculty Mentors Dr. Terry Beckler Dr. Kristi Bockorny Dr. Ric Dias Dr. Guangwei Ding Dr. Amy Dolan Dr. Amber Henderson Dr. Shalini Mathew Dr. Jon Mitchell Dr. Pamela Monaghan-Geernaert Dr. Lyncee Monson Dr. Christopher Near Dr. George Nora Dr. Eric Pulis Dr. Peter Ramey Dr. Aaron Scholl Dr. Nicole Schutter Dr. Chelsee Shortt Dr. Michael Skyles Dr. Samantha St. Clair Dr. Sal Villegas Dr. Lucas Wiscons Dr. Tim Woods Dr. Cheng Hsien Wu And more to come! 2025-2026 TRIO McNair Scholars Liliana Angulo, Psychology major Taylor Audiss, Criminal Justice major Paige Bishop, Biochemistry major Dylan Blair, Music Education major Kaden Boettcher, Marketing major Erin Christofferson, Sociology major Guy Clothier, Digital Media major Taye Cundiff, Music Education major Autumn Funmaker, Banking and Financial Services major Abby Ironwing, Chemistry major Isaac Johnson, Music Education major Alexis Martin, Music Education major Brady Metzinger, History major Alex Newsam, Criminal Justice major Ian Pharris, Finance major Emma Rahm, Chemistry major Tahlia Sbal, Business Administration major Matt Scepaniak, Human Performance major Josalyn Schroeder, Psychology major Chit Snow, Elementary Education major Kaden St. Pierre, Nursing major Kaisha Van Engen, Biology major Tiffany Venegas Mata, Psychology major Josh Wakefield, Biochemistry major Christian Wells, Biochemistry major
2025 NSU Scholar Forum April 9, 2025 Alexis Martin The Emotional Impact of Music in the Film Industry Jessica Bertsch Burnout Among College Students Joshua Wakefield Developing a Digestion Method for Elm RIver Fish to Assess Mercury Levels by ICP-OES Jaron Gross Building Harmony: Creating a Strong Foundation for the Music Educator
Chit Snow Rethinking Testing: Addressing the Bias in Learning Disability Evaluations for English Language Learner Students Christian Wells The Discovery of Promising Macrolide Antibiotic Molecules through Nucleophilic Addition Reactions with H NMR and C NMR Verification Matt Scepaniak Managing Conflict in Sports: Exploring Conflict Resoluction Strategies in High School Coaches Simon Bickford Spatial Analysis of Neuronal P-TAU Protein Aggregation Post-Axonal Injury: A Basis for the Understanding of Tauopathy Progression 2025 NSU Scholar Forum April 9, 2025
McNair Scholars Program Events NSU McNair Forum September 26, 2025 Centennial Rooms McNair Symposium and Graduation Celebration December 9, 2025 Centennial Rooms NSU Scholarly Forum Spring 2026 McNair Graduation Celebration May 1, 2026 Centennial Rooms TRIO McNair Scholars Program Contact Information Dr. Chiara Wang Shelby Serrano chiara.wang@northern.edu shelby.serrano@northern.edu 605-626-3444 605-626-7801 TC 150 TC 154
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